


hearth

by FancifulRivers



Series: warmth [4]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Child Neglect
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-05
Updated: 2018-05-05
Packaged: 2019-04-30 15:34:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,316
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14500113
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FancifulRivers/pseuds/FancifulRivers
Summary: Harry and Dudley get taken away.





	hearth

**Author's Note:**

> It might help if you've read the previous stories in the series.

Harry found himself crowding very close to the sneering man who had introduced himself as Severus Snape. The bag with his possessions had been tucked away somewhere into the man's clothes, after he'd looked Harry up and down and pronounced his attire "barely suitable." Harry was hard-put not to protest that he couldn't  _help_ the way he was dressed, it wasn't like the Dursleys gave him new clothes, but he certainly wasn't going to argue with someone who knew Molly Weasley. (He had been  _very_ careful to ensure the mittens she'd gifted him were tucked in the bottom of that bag, though).

Dudley came thundering back down the stairs, dragging his own bag behind him. His face betrayed the same mix of apprehension and excitement that Harry felt. What was going to happen to them? Where would they go? Aunt Petunia had always threatened Harry with the orphanage if he didn't behave, but  _Dudley_ couldn't end up there, could he? Both of his parents were alive.

"Do what you want with- with  _him_ ," Aunt Petunia said in a very brittle voice, waving her hand at Harry (who tried not to feel hurt). "But you're not taking my Dudders. He's  _mine_. You promis-"

"Do you _really_ want him, Tuney?" Snape asked, stepping closer. Harry didn't know how Aunt Petunia managed to stand firm against the man's glower. It made his stomach sink all the way into his shoes and it wasn't even directed at him. "He has magic." The man seemed to savour the forbidden word. "I've watched how you treat him, you know. Him and P- Harry both."

"He is my child," Petunia said shrilly.

"Let him go," Uncle Vernon said.

Harry blinked. Aunt Petunia turned to stare at her husband in shock. Even Snape looked surprised.

"Vernon- I- what?" she asked.

"He's right," Uncle Vernon said, jerking his head toward the sneering man. "Dud's like- like all of them. So let him go. Maybe it'll be...better for him. To be with his own kind."

Aunt Petunia's eyes filled with tears.

"Vernon, I can't believe you'd-" She started, but Snape interrupted her.

"Good, it's settled, come along then," he said, stowing Dudley's bag away as well. "You might as well make your goodbyes if you have any."

"Er- goodbye," Harry said awkwardly. Aunt Petunia ignored him entirely, too busy wailing on the shoulder of her "precious Dudders," but Uncle Vernon gave him a stiff nod.

"This way, Harry," Dumbledore said in a kind voice, holding out one wrinkled hand. After a moment's hesitation, Harry took it. He wasn't a  _baby_ , he didn't need to be led by the hand. But he could see Snape grabbing Dudley's hand over one shoulder, so maybe this was all right.

"This will be disorienting," Dumbledore warned. "Whatever you do,  _don't let go._ " Harry opened his mouth to ask him why when the world dissolved around him.

A nauseating swirl of colors later and Harry found himself on his knees in a patch of damp grass, dry heaving until he saw spots.

"Honestly, Albus," he heard Snape say sourly, coming up behind him. "Did you not think to give the boy a stomach soother?"

"...I forgot," Dumbledore confessed, sounding shame-faced.

"Where are we?" Dudley asked. When Harry looked up, his mouth fell open and he wanted to ask the same question.

The Dursleys' living room was nowhere in sight. Instead, they were outside, in front of an enormous- he squinted. No, he had seen right in the darkness. A  _castle_.

"Welcome to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry," Dumbledore said. Snape leaned down and plucked Harry up from the ground, setting him on his feet.

"Thank- thank you, sir," he said as his head swam. Snape looked down and sneered.

"Keep up," he said, as they set out toward the main gate.

Harry had thought the exterior of the castle was fascinating, but it was nothing compared to the interior. His mind was so overwhelmed, he didn't know where to look. It didn't help exhaustion had started to crash over him like a tidal wave. Dumbledore turned, peering at both Harry and Dudley.

"Severus, they're both exhausted," he said. "I think any talk about what to do now will have to wait until morning."

"Obviously," Snape drawled. "What do you expect me to do about it?"

"Well, I hoped-" Dumbledore started, but Snape was already shaking his head. Harry wondered why.

"Oh no," he said. "You are not sticking me with two prepubescent boys. It is bad enough I have to teach the little monsters."

"Severus," Dumbledore said. Snape subsided reluctantly. "It is only for tonight."

"Fine," he bit out. "You two. Come with me. This is  _temporary_ , you understand."

"Yes, sir," Harry and Dudley chorused.

Snape lived in an actual dungeon. Harry thought he'd be more surprised, but it...fit him. He stopped before a blank patch of wall, murmured something that Harry didn't quite catch, and suddenly the stone melted away to reveal a stout wooden door.

Harry gaped.

"Shut your mouth, you're not a fish," Snape said, irritable. "And get inside. The password is water lily."

_Water lily,_ Harry repeated to himself as he filed past the dour-looking man. Dudley had a bit of a tight squeeze getting in, although that seemed to be more due to the fact he kept avoiding Snape as much as possible.

"Sit," Snape ordered, pointing to a squashy settee. "You two will share the guest room for tonight. You are only allowed in the guest room and the bathroom. If there is an emergency during the night-" his lip curled. "You may knock on my bedroom door. I assure you, I will wake up. And there better be a  _reason_ for doing so, or you will not like the consequences." Harry swallowed hard when Snape's beetle-black eyes pinned him. He definitely had no intentions of waking the man up unless he had no other choice.

"If you are hungry, I can ring for a house elf or you can forage through my kitchen, provided you know how to behave appropriately. I'd like you in bed as quickly as possible, so tomorrow can come as quickly as possible. Is that understood?"

"Yes, sir," Harry and his cousin chorused again. They were getting quite good at this, Harry thought.

"Oh, and here," Snape said, thrusting their belongings at them.

"Thank you, sir," Harry said. Snape just stared at him.

Minutes later, Harry couldn't believe his luck as he munched on a turkey sandwich, a glass of something orange and strange-tasting that Snape called pumpkin juice at his elbow. He was so tired, he wanted to fall asleep in it, but he didn't dare. Snape watched them both through narrowed eyes.

"This is really good," Dudley said, his voice muffled.

"Don't talk with your mouth full," Snape chastised. Dudley's cheeks reddened. He swallowed hastily.

"Uh, sorry," he said.

"The house elves have ensured you both have appropriate toiletries in the bathroom," Snape said. "And appropriate pyjamas for you, P- Harry. Merlin knows that woman wouldn't have given you any." Harry went pink. It was true that Aunt Petunia didn't particularly like giving him anything that came close to fitting him, but he was used to wearing Dudley's cast-offs to bed.

"Did you pack your pyjamas?" Snape asked Dudley. He nodded. "Good. Go to bed."

Harry crawled beneath the covers of a bed so luxurious, he could scarcely have dreamed of even going near it before. He didn't even care that Dudley shared it, or that his cousin would likely end up stealing the blankets or shoving Harry half-off in his sleep. His breath was pleasantly minty, he wore pyjamas that were soft and smelled nice (and actually  _fit_ ), and best of all, he never had to live with his aunt and uncle again.

Despite his sneering exterior, Harry thought, yawning, Snape was all right.


End file.
